A Little Bit of Love
by FlamingReaper
Summary: It's Ebon's birthday, looks like he forgot because of his bad mood. Will Adam and Shiv cheer him up?
1. Chapter 1

Ebon let out a large snarl as he stalked towards an unused subway entrance. Once again, his gang had lost a fight against Static, and the shadow man was completely pissed. The only good that came out of it was none of them were actually caught. The scatter tactic that they had used was something Ebon had used back when he was still going by 'Ivan' and he had Adam to take care of. Ebon snarled again, cursing wildly, when he heard Adam's voice calling to him. The villain turned and posed, ready to strike at his little brother if need be. In all honesty, Ebon never wanted to hurt his brother, they had both lost so much and were literally the only family each other had. The shadow man hated to be on opposite sides, secretly terrified that Adam would get hurt without him there to protect him. The thoughts of Adam possibly getting hurt didn't help to improve his already dark mood at all, though he'd keep most of his rage inside as Adam came to stand in front of him, panting slightly from exhaustion. Ebon's white eyes narrowed at his brother, calculating to see if he needed help. In doing so, his pose relaxed greatly, making Adam feel more at ease.

"What do you want Rubber Band man?" Ebon asked harshly.

"Not coming to you as a hero, only your brother, Ivan, here," Adam replied as he shoved a shoddily wrapped, square shaped package at him. Ebon didn't move to take it. Though he had a feeling it didn't have a tracking device in it.

"What's that?" Ebon asked suspiciously. Adam let loose a sigh before putting the package on the ground, looking as if his whole world collapsed. Ebon's gut clenched at the sight.

"Do I honestly have to have a reason for giving you a present on your birthday?" Adam asked softly. Ebon's narrowed gazed widened in shock.

"Birthday?" Ebon asked, surprise. He had forgotten what today was, not that he cared or anything. Ebon tried to remember the important things, like plans for his gang and Adam's birthday and well-being.

"Of course you'd forget your own birthday big brother. Happy Birthday Ivan," Adam said sadly before bouncing off. Ebon stood there silently for a few moments before leaning down to grab the package. It kinda looked like it might be a spiral note book, but it was too thick to be any note book Ebon ever saw. Not that he'd complain if it was, it helped him to write plans out. Ebon disappeared through the subway tunnel entrance, clutching the package to him semi desperately. When he got to the Meta breed's hide out, the others were already there, all of them knowing to meet there in case of Static ruining their fun.

"Hey boss, what took you so long?" Shiv asked, his tone annoyingly chipper. Ebon ignored his small lover in favor of going to his sectioned off peace of subway, not wanting to be around anyone when he opened Adam's gift. He sat down, putting the packaged in front of him, staring at it as if it held the mysteries of the universe. Twenty minutes later, that's how Shiv found him, staring at the package his brother had given him, still unopened. Shiv frowned delicately before walking quietly into the 'room'. In-spite of popular belief, the asian male was a lot more observant than people thought. One of the things he was most observant of, was Ebon's moods, especially since they had been lovers for so long. A small treat was balanced in Shiv's hand, with one small candle dead center. Shiv put the cupcake next to Adam's package and lighted it, still not saying a word. When the hyper gangster retreated, reaching all the way to the door, he spoke.

"Happy birthday boss," Shiv said before leaving. He'd make sure to properly celebrate at a later date, but now was the time for Adam. After Shiv left, Ebon opened Adam's present. It was a simple sketch book, something that was so secret, Adam was the only one who knew about it, and a signed copy of Adam's new CD. The back was facing out word, the back with the list of songs on the disk there. ONe of the songs on the back, the first one, was circled in black sharpie. Ebon stared at the words for several long moments before they registered. The first song was one dedicated to him, titled 'For my Brother'.

Ebon turned to the sketch book, opening it to check the pages and got another shock. The very first page was written on, Adam's somewhat sloppy hand writing scrawled over the first page in slow deliberate strokes. The words making Ebon's dark heart clench as he read the short not on the first page of the thick sketch book.

_"Dear Ivan, I know that we have had our differences, but I hope you have the time to still enjoy your life, and I hope today goes better then most. Happy Birthday Ivan,"_

_ Adam._

_ P.S. Never forget that I'll always have faith in you, regardless of out differences._


	2. Four months later

It had been four months since Adam had given his older brother his birthday gifts, and he was currently exhausted. Going in between work, hero duty, and spending time with Sharon was taking its toll on the musician. Luckily enough for him, Virgil and Richie had been letting him relax a little more for the past couple of weeks, which was a relief. Richie didn't know why, but Virgil had an inkling as to why Adam was slowing down a little. The electric hero didn't push it, but let Adam know that if he ever needed to talk, he'd listen. Adam appreciated it, really, he just really missed his family, and that was difficult to explain sometimes.

Adam let loose a sigh as he stalked into his apartment, only to collapse on the couch a few minutes later. He really wanted to talk to Ivan, especially today, considering it was his own birthday, but alas, it wouldn't happen. They hadn't seen each other in a couple of months, though Virgil had seen the shadow man plenty of times. An unfortunate side effect of thinking about his brother brought forth thoughts of their shitty parents. Their parents had tried to time it just right so their birthdays would land on the same day, it hadn't worked due to difficulties conceiving for three years after Ivan had been born. Four months apart was the closest they could come to having the 'same' birthday. Their parents hadn't been trying to be cute, they just wanted to cut down on birthday expenses. They were cheap like that, and when Adam's educational needs had gotten too expensive, they packed up and left. Lucky for Adam, Ivan had been seventeen at the time and completely emancipated from their parents due to them disappearing for several weeks at a time. It didn't take long for Ivan to get custody of his younger brother after that.

Adam let loose another sigh as he went to massage his temples to try and stop the headache he had acquired earlier in the day. He had spent most of his time with Sharon that day and the women had shrieked most of the time in excitement, wanting to spoil Adam as much as possible. He loved Sharon with everything he had, but that women had an extremely loud voice and was very demanding. Since Adam had closed his eyes to help with his headache, he didn't notice a dark shadow watching him from his right side. Ebon watched for a few seconds longer before going to Adam's bathroom to grab some Ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet. Ebon came back a few minutes later with a glass of water and two Ibuprofen's in his hands.

"Here," Ebon said handing them over to his younger brother.

"Thanks Ivan," Adam said before grabbing both the water and pills. Seconds later, the hero's dark brown eyes open in shock before he shot up to stare at his brother.

"Ivan, you're here," Adam said in complete surprise.

"Did you honestly think I'd forget your birthday, Adam?" Ebon asked softly as Adam took the pills.

"We haven't really been on the best of terms in the last two years Ivan. And no, I don't think you would have forgot, avoided, yes, but not forgot," Adam replied easily before leaning back on his couch, motioning for Ebon to sit down if he wanted. Ebon automatically sat next to his brother, actually wanting to talk.

"I wouldn't have avoided you either Adam," Ebon replied, his large hands lacing. Adam stared at his brother for a few long moments before he grinned at his older brother.

"Thanks for coming Ivan," Adam said, his joy evident in his voice. Ebon smiled back.

"You're welcome Adam. Now, I got you something," Ebon grunted out as he stood up. Adam's eyes widened slightly in slight childlike glee at the thought of a present form his older brother before it disappeared and his eyes narrowed.

"You didn't steal it did you?" Adam asked suspiciously. Ebon scoffed before disappearing to get the present. He reappeared seconds later with a medium sized paper bag. Neither of them were good when it came to wrapping gifts.

"It isn't much, but here," Ebon replied, thrusting the bag at his brother. Adam stared for a few moments before grabbing it, his child like glee returning. Ebon grinned slightly at the sight of his brother, pleased to give some of Adam's joy back to him. One of Adam's gifts was a simple notebook that'd be helpful for song writing, a CD of his favorite band, and a small box. Adam's eyes widened as soon as he spotted it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Adam asked.

"It's Grans, and I figured you'd wanna give that to your girl," Ebon replied.

"A-are you sure? Gramp's did give it to you," Adam asked in awe. The item in question was a simple amethyst engagement ring that their great-great-great grandfather made for their great-great-great grandma. The amethyst wasn't huge, but noticeable enough, set in a slender band of silver.

"I ain't got no one to give it too. 'Sides, that idiot's gonna break it if I give it to him," Ebon replied hotly. Adam smiled brilliantly at his older brother, thrilled by such an important gift. The ring was only given to the eldest in the family, and the younger(s) never even got a chance to hold it.

"Thank you so much Ivan. Will, you come, if I do marry her?" Adam asked softly, looking at his older brother carefully.

"Boy, when I have I ever missed anything important when it came to you?" Ebon groused out angrily.

"Nothing comes to mind. Thank you again, big brother," Adam replied, his grin happy and joyous. Ebon was silent for a few moments before replying.

"You're welcome, brat. Now, I gotta go 'fore Shiv does somethin' stupid," Ebon said before leaving. Adam smiled again, not bothering with a 'goodbye'. They never said goodbye to each other, both knowing it was a little too permanent for their liking. Adam leaned back into his couch, clutching his minimal gifts before falling asleep, pleased with how his birthday turned out.


End file.
